(Get it?  His hair’s messed up because he’s blind.  Stupid Hollywood, The Braillettes managed it fine.)

Fox currently owns the rights to the Daredevil franchise, but if they don’t do anything with it, it reverts back to Marvel.  And if there’s one thing Fox execs can’t stand, it’s the idea of anyone else making a suckier movie than them.  Therefore, Daredevil reboot.  Same blind dude, now with less Affleck. ;-(

Regency is mounting the remake with former News Corp No. 2 Peter Chernin producing. Writing the redo is screenwriter David Scarpa, who scripted The Day The Earth Stood Still for Fox. [DHD]

The Day the Earth Stood Still... anyone see that?  No?  Didn’t think so. Maybe I’ll catch it on cable. If I lose my remote or something.  Anyway, the important thing is that they cast a strong lead, and I think I’ve got the perfect choice…

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IESB recently did an interview with Fox head Tom Rothman (yes, the same Fox that made Space Chimps), and they asked him what he thought of the Daredevil franchise.  You’ll never guess what he said:

Tom Rothman: A Daredevil, to use your words, reboot, is something we are thinking very seriously about.
I think that the thing the Hulk showed… is that… if you really do it right, the audience will give you a second chance. …And I think that you see that when they did Batman Begins …you can [make] some mistakes along the way or movies that the audience wasn’t that crazy about [but] then given the proper amount of time and the right creative vision behind it, you can, to use your word, reboot.
IESB: And Iron Man proved that a second tier hero done right can make lots of money.
TR: Correct, but these are good properties [Daredevil and Elektra, the Marvel properties whose rights are still owned by Fox] and I am actually encouraged by both the Hulk experience and particularly by what they did with Batman, after the relative disappointment of what the last Batman was [1990's incarnations]. [Source]

Batman works because his superpower is hiding behind stuff and beating people up.  Iron Man works because he has rocket arms.  Daredevil… is a blind lawyer.  Even his name makes no sense.  I watched part of the first Daredevil when it was on cable once, and it was as good as you’d expect from a movie where Colin Farrell has a bullseye on his forehead and throws toothpicks at people. In related news, sex with me is often called “the Hulk experience.”

^{Sorry, wrong Fox}

That’s the question Variety asked the studio that released The Happening, Babylon A.D., Meet Dave, X-Files 2, Mirrors, Space Chimps, and The Rocker.  Their top movie this summer?  What Happens in Vegas.  To any intelligent person, the answer to why Fox is failing is “horrible movies.”  But just for fun, here’s what Variety said:

The strategy of being cheap and eschewing top-tier filmmakers came back to bite the studio: Although Fox has been the envy of many for its remarkable box office consistency and profit margins, many producers, agents and managers have been less than charmed. Complaints about the studio’s tendency to lowball talent — particularly writers — and Rothman’s micro-managing of productions have become widespread. A broad spectrum of reps say they are reluctant to place clients on Fox projects, citing a talent-unfriendly atmosphere.

Yes, “talent-unfriendly” is certainly a good way to describe them, or pretty much anything that sucks.  But don’t worry!  They have a plan!

On the agenda, Fox will mull the possibility of more “X-Men” spinoffs, including a young-X-Men project as well as “Deadpool,” based on a character played by Ryan Reynolds in “Wolverine.” The studio is even considering reviving the “Daredevil” property.

Ooh, young X-Men.  Keep your schedule open, Jonas Bros.  Magneto can’t handle their powers of… abstinence!

And on paper, the year-end looks good with “Australia” and “Marley and Me,” and so does next summer, with the studio releasing no fewer than three tentpoles: “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” on May 1, “Night at the Museum 2: Escape From the Smithsonian” on Memorial Day weekend and “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” on the Fourth of July weekend.

To recap, they’re staking their box office hopes on a Baz Luhrmann epic and a dog movie with Jennifer Aniston in it.  And if that doesn’t work they’re going to redo Daredevil.  Really, I can’t see how this plan could possibly fail.